Today's Guest: Robert K. Elder, author,
Last Words of the Executed

Last Words of the Executed by Robert K. Elder, Mr. Media
Interviews

I don’t know that the world was bouncing on its heels, waiting
impatiently for someone to finally collect the last words of men
and women subject to the death penalty in the United States, but
now that we have it, Robert K. Elder’s Last Words of the
Executed makes for a fascinating read. But don’t take my word
for it. The late, great writer Studs Terkel, author of one of my
favorite journalistic books, Working—I read and carried it
with me everywhere during my senior year of college—wrote the first
words for Last Words of the Executed shortly before
passing away. Here’s what he said about it, in part: “Elder is a
journalist in the noblest tradition, getting at a certain truth.
And the truth may come from the most ejected members of our
society, the most reprehensible, and yet the humanity is still
there… Perhaps there will come a time whena book such as this will
no longer be needed but will be remembered as a history of a
prehistoric time. It’s all moving stuff.” Terkel went on to say
that he found the book to be poetry of a sort. As for Elder, he is
a journalist and a teacher at Northwestern University. This is
second trip to Mr Media Radio; he was here before talking about his
websites, ItWasOverWhen.com
and ItWasLoveWhen.com.

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